Orleans (AFP)

The offer from Pyrex's parent company, International Cookware, for the purchase of the famous Duralex glassworks, with maintenance of almost all jobs, was validated Thursday by the Orléans commercial court.

The group based in Châteauroux was the only candidate still in the running to buy the glassworks of La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin (Loiret), in the suburbs of Orléans, in receivership since September 2020 and which has 248 employees.

During the hearing on January 22, the commercial court had however asked International Cookware to review its offer, considered a little weak financially.

Revising its offer, the group maintained its sale price, amounting to 3.5 million euros, but modified the scope, to meet the court's request.

Pyrex's parent company, which had received support from the Center-Val de Loire region and Orléans Métropole, is proposing an ambitious recovery plan for Duralex.

In particular, it plans to invest "up to 17.4 million euros over the period 2021 to 2024" and to provide 21 million in equity over the same period, including 12 million from this year, according to the court ruling. .

International Cookware, owned by the European investment fund Kartesia, also plans to maintain 246 out of 248 jobs, only two senior executives not being retained.

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